History of artificial Christmas Tree

1510 – The first written record of a decorated Christmas Tree comes from Riga, Latvia. Men of the local merchants’ guild decorated a tree with artificial roses, danced around it in the marketplace and then set fire to it. The rose was used for many year and is considered to be a symbol for the Virgin Mary.

1530 – There is record from Alsace, France (then Germany territory) that trees were sold in the marketplace and brought home and set up undecorated. Laws limited the size to “8 shoe lengths” (slightly over 4 feet).

1600s – By the 17th century, it was common in Germany to decorate Christmas Trees with apples. This practice was a holdover from the 14th and 15th centuries when evergreen boughs hung with apples were the only prop used in the “miracle plays” that were performed at the churches on December 24. December 24 was Adam & Eve’s Day in the early Christian calendar, and the plays were used as ways of teaching the Bible to a largely illiterate population.

1700s - In parts of Austria and Germany, evergreen tips were brought into the home and hung top down from the ceiling. They were often decorated with apples, gilded nuts and red paper strips. Edible ornaments became so popular on Christmas Trees that they were often called “sugartrees.” The first accounts of using lighted candles as decorations on Christmas Trees come from France in the 18th century.

1800s - The Christmas Tree was introduced in the United States by German settlers. It rapidly grew from tabletop size to floor-to-ceiling.

1851 - Christmas Trees began to be sold commercially in the United States. They were taken at random from the forests.

1853 - Franklin Pierce is credited with bringing the first Christmas Tree to the White House.

Late 1800s – The first glass ornaments were introduced into the United States, again from Germany. The first ones were mostly balls, but later chains of balls, toys and figures became more common.

Around 1883- Sears, Roebuck & Company began offering the first artificial Christmas trees – 33 limbs for $.50 and 55 limbs for $1.00.

1900s - Due to overharvesting, the natural supply of evergreens began to be decimated. Conservationists became alarmed, and many magazines began to encourage people to substitute an artificial “snow” covered tree, consisting of a branch of a deciduous tree wrapped in cotton.

1901 - The first Christmas Tree farm was started in 1901 when W.V. McGalliard planted 25,000 Norway spruce on his farm in New Jersey. Also in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt tried to stop the practice of having Christmas Trees out of concern about the destruction of forests. His two sons didn’t agree and enlisted the help of conservationist Gifford Pinchot to persuade the president that, done properly, the practice was not harmful to the forests.

1930s - President Franklin D. Roosevelt started a Christmas Tree farm on his estate in Hyde Park, New York.

1966 - The National Christmas Tree Association began its time-honored tradition of having the Grand Champion grower present a Christmas Tree to the First Lady for display in the Blue Room of the White House. That year, Howard Pierce of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, presented a tree to President Lyndon Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.

Today - Approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees are sold each year in the United States. Almost all of these come from Christmas Tree plantations.

Artificial Christmas Tree

An artificial Christmas tree is a fake Christmas tree that was originally made from paper and cardboard , but nowadays they’re mainly of plastic.The development of the artificial Christmas tree has gone through a long way . In 1883 a department store in America introduced the first commercial version: 25 loose twigs , decorated with red berries.

In the 30s the plastic trees became popular. Most were therefore produced in factories where toilet brushes are made . Later the began with Christmas trees made of aluminum , but their production ended quickly. The artificial Christmas tree has developed considerably in recent years . Besides trees of PVC ( polyvinyl chloride ) ( also see the movie) , there are now trees of PE ( polyethylene ) ( also see the movie) manufactured . This is an entirely different method of production in which with the aid of a mold a real branch substantially " copied " can be . You also have trees of PP (polypropylene ) (see also the film) and flock ( also see the movie) . The last trees are covered with artificial snow . Nowadays there are different colors Christmas trees , because of the changeable trends. Like black , white and even pink Christmas trees . The colored artificial Christmas trees are widely used in shop windows , showrooms and shops . For large retail chains and squares '' giants '' designed . These are trees of up to 15 ( ! ) meters high . The deployment of artificial Christmas trees were often time consuming , but certain modern trees are ready for use in minutes by twigs naturally burst , see, eg, 1 minute tree.

Nowadays, one can buy a can of the smell of a real tree in the artificial Christmas tree in order to create the illusion still have . 'Real ' tree Besides the use aspects, it is also important that the fake tree is flame retardant.

Artificial Christmas trees are sold in special Christmas shops, garden centers and DIY stores and over the internet: www.artificialchristmastree.nl.